Powerball Jackpot Could Hit $900 Million, If No One Wins Tonight
UPDATE 11:05PM: Winning Powerball Numbers: 5-16-22-23-29 Powerball: 6
BOSTON (CBS) - The Powerball jackpot reached a new record high $550 million Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the next drawing.
Comment: What Would You Do With $550 Million?
The one-time, lump sum cash option is now $360.2 million.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Laurie Kirby reports
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Tickets for tonight's 11 p.m. drawing will be sold until 9:45 p.m.
"If there is no Grand Prize winner in tonight's drawing, the estimated jackpot for the Saturday, December 1 drawing is $900 million, which would surpass the March 30, 2012 world-record Mega Millions jackpot of $656 million by $244 million," Mass Lottery spokeswoman Beth Bresnahan said in a statement.
As of noon, Lottery retailers had sold more than $3 million in Powerball tickets Wednesday.
They've been going at a rate of $14,800 per minute.
The busiest retailer in the state, according to the lottery, is Ted's Stateline Mobil in Methuen.
While many players may opt to pick meaningful numbers or birthdays, according to a Georgia Tech mathematician, there are some that come up more frequently than others.
The most frequent numbers drawn are:
1, 7, 14, 29, 44, 56 and 59.
The most frequent Powerball drawn is 33.
The least drawn numbers are:
2, 12, 21, 25, 27, 37, 38, 40 and 52.
As for the Powerball, 9, 15, 17 and 31 have not been drawn in this calendar year.
